MINNEAPOLIS: Jennifer Lopez raised money for Hurricane Maria victims in Puerto Rico, celebrated an anniversary with beau Alex Rodriguez and covered Prince songs at a pre-Super Bowl concert in Minneapolis.
Lopez headlined the DIRECTV NOW Super Saturday Night concert, working the stage with sizzling and sharp dance moves and singing hits like “I’m Real” and “Love Don’t Cost a Thing.”
She changed at least seven times during the nearly two-hour concert: She started in a body suit and then switched to a loose jersey that read “J LO” and the No. 13 — one of the many odes to A-Rod.
When she performed her new dance single “Us,” released on Friday, she said worked on the song a year ago — around the time she started dating the former New York Yankee player. Lopez also used a baseball bat as a prop during “Jenny from the Block.”
Though Super Bowl 52 is happening Sunday, when the New England Patriots take on the Philadelphia Eagles, Lopez said “the big show is tonight.”
“You get full time, you get over time ... we can do whatever we want to do. There are no censors, ain’t no time delay. We came to play,” she said.
She sported a dramatic, long fur-like coat during a dance break for “If You Had My Love,” weaving in a bit of Sheila E’s “The Glamorous Life.”
Appropriately, she sang a medley of Prince songs for the Minneapolis crowd — including “When Doves Cry” and “Darling Nikki” — and even slide across the stage on her knees while a guitarist gave his best impression of The Purple One. It earned roars from the crowd.
Lopez, 48, also covered Aretha Franklin’s “Respect“; danced to Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow” and Camila Cabello’s “Havana“; was joined by Ne-Yo for a duet of “All I Have“; and let DJ Khaled work the audience up while she changed outfits.
At one point she said, “We need something sexy for the sexy people from Minneapolis,” and was joined by shirtless male dancers. In a lingerie ensemble, she danced sensually on a chair as red lights shined onto the stage.
She closed the set with a festive vibe with “Let’s Get Loud,” as her dancers played congos and pyrotechnics burst in the air.
Saturday’s concert raised awareness for post-Hurricane Maria relief and recovery effort in Puerto Rico. AT&T said it would match charitable contributions up to $200K to the Hispanic Federation, and it would give a $1 donation to the Hispanic Federation for every tweet using the hashtag #JLoNOW.
Lopez said she wanted “to help all of our friends in Puerto Rico who are still trying to rebuild their lives.”
“Together we can do great things,” she told the audience.
Jennifer Lopez shout-outs A-Rod, covers Prince at pre-Super Bowl show
Jennifer Lopez shout-outs A-Rod, covers Prince at pre-Super Bowl show
Arts festival’s decision to exclude Palestinian author spurs boycott
- A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival
SYDENY: A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as moves to curb antisemitism spur free speech concerns.
The shooting which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi.”
FASTFACTS
• Abdel-Fattah responded, saying it was ‘a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.’
• Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival.
Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
Among the boycotting authors, Kathy Lette wrote on social media the decision to bar Abdel-Fattah “sends a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive.'”
The Adelaide Festival said in a statement on Monday that three board members and the chairperson had resigned. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex moment.”
a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision.
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.
Albanese said last week a Royal Commission will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia. Albanese said on Monday he would recall parliament next week to pass tougher hate speech laws.
On Monday, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns announced new rules that would allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls.
Minns said the new rules were prompted by the difficulty in closing a prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield said the rules were ill-considered and councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
